She was originally paid benefits in 1994, on the basis she was incapable of walking the length of a car due to a spinal injury. But between 2007 and 2013 her circumstances changed.

Fraud investigators spotted Pinchen, of Annitsford, Northumberland, strolling into and out of her local shopping centre with no aid. They also discovered her husband had made money selling websites and transferred the income into her bank account.

As a result, in 2011 the couple had the money to travel 5,000 miles for a 10-day sight-seeing holiday in China.

Pinchen then posted photos from the holiday on Facebook, including a snap of her on the Great Wall of China, handing investigators crucial evidence to suggest she was physically and financially more stable than she claimed.

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Benefits cheat: Dawn Pinchen falsely claimed over £35,000 in disability benefits by saying she was incapable of walking the length of a car due to a spinal injury

Alec Burns, prosecuting, told the court: “On the social media website Facebook, Mrs Pinchen posted photos of her and her husband on holiday in China. There was a photo of her stood on the Great Wall of China.

“She had also been observed walking from her car into Manors Walk Shopping centre in Cramlington, Northumberland, and walking from her car into and out of her local ASDA supermarket with a trolley. On all occasions she did this with no aid at all. There was no sign of a walking stick or frame.”

Pinchen was sentenced to four months in prison, suspended for 12 months and ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work.

Sentencing her, Judge Penny Moreland QC told Pinchen benefits were for those who need them and those entitled: “People like you, dishonest people, give those with honest claims a bad name and it is wrong.”

Tony Cornberg, defending, said: “There was some entitlement though we are not sure what that might be. Mrs Pinchen is still having spinal treatment. She is by no means a regular holiday maker. She has been sitting there watching life happen to everyone else.”

Pinchen had been paying £18.25 per week for over a year to help pay back what she owed.

Speaking after the court case she said: “Anyone who says that I walked the Great Wall is talking a load of rubbish. I did go to see it but I didn’t walk along it.”